STARBUCKS IN NYC CLOSES.... THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE!Starbucks is closed. I don't just mean the location in my neighborhood.
I mean THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE IN ALL 5 BOROUGHS! And it would be generous to call the current precipitation a "light rain."
Who ordered the Trenta-sized alarmist latte?
reposted by bryan slater

A street in Puerto Rico shortly after Hurricane Irene ravaged the island.
Yes, that’s a shark swimming down the street next to a car, and this is exactly why authorities in NYC are warning people not to go swimming in flood waters after a hurricane.
repost by justin thomas

A mound of wreckage at the Indiana State Fair hasn't been disturbed since dozens of concertgoers and workers were pulled from under collapsed stage rigging from the sugarland a week ago.

The lawsuits are on behalf of a couple from Wanatah, Ind., who have been partners for 10 years and attended the show together.
Only one left the Fairgrounds alive.

Beth Urschel, 49, is seeking at least $60 million in a wrongful death claim from Mid-America Sound Corporation, which owned the collapsed stage structure, among a bevy of other companies that helped put on the concert. Urschel is filing the suit on behalf of the estate of her partner of a decade, Tammy VanDam, 42, who died in the incident, the Indianapolis Star reported.
The two lived in Wanatah, Ind., with VanDam's 17-year-old daughter. She was one of seven people killed in the collapse.

"We had so many plans and things we wanted to do," Urschel said of her partner.

8/25/11

Rep. Phil Hinkle, R-Indianapolis, – after days of silence – has finally issued his own written release saying he won’t run again. He declined to step down, though.

“As for 2012, we, as a family, decided back in December after the 2010 election, that I would not be seeking another term,” Hinkle said.

The Indianapolis Star reported earlier this month that Hinkle responded to a Craigslist ad posted by an 18-year-old Indianapolis man seeking a “sugga daddy.”

It said Hinkle agreed to pay $80 plus a tip, and drove the man to the JW Marriott hotel in Downtown Indianapolis.
There, the teen said, he told Hinkle he wanted to leave. The man said Hinkle told him he was a state lawmaker,
stripped though they never had sex, and then gave him $100, his Blackberry and an iPad in an attempt to buy his silence.

The teen and his sister contacted The Indianapolis Star.

Hinkle defended himself against some of the accusations, saying he did not detain the teen in the hotel room, did not expose himself and did not offer money for silence.

“While I must admit to mistakes of judgment, I am seeking professional help on what turned me down a road of self-destruction,” he said. “Those who know me well know that continued silence is a challenge but at this point it is the best thing.”

8/24/11

as we've all heard by now- THE SUNSET JUNCTION STREET FESTIVAL-
was denied permits by the city of LA, so this weekend's festival is off...
you can read all the gory details- HERE-what most people don't know (or remember) is the origins of this community street festival and its humble beginnings...
since i'm a lifelong resident of los angeles, i remember the circumstances that led to the creation of sunset junction.
i will tell you them now.....
silverlake & echo park were the original locations for filmmaking @ the turn of the century...
productions of laurel & hardy, the keystone cops and numerous silent films were created in the vicinity.
("the music box steps,"- Vendome Street (at the base of the hill) with Descanso Drive (at the top of the hill), silverlake)
during the early 1920s film productions shifted west to hollywood, culver city and studio city.
silverlake lost its luster and the housing market began to decline. because of the reasonable housing rates & rentals, by the 1960s & 70s, silverlake was now predominately latino and immigrants.
the first generation of children gravitated to gangs and gang activity...
perhaps as a way to fit in, or reaction to ostracism.
at the same time, the late 1960s and early 70s saw a huge influx of gay men ( in particular leathermen) into the area.
gay guys and gals would buy houses for next to nothing, fix them up and create beautiful gems to be proud of ...
numerous gay leather/fetish clubs began to open-
THE ONE WAY, THE GAUNTLET, CUFFS, BASIC PLUMBING, GRIFFS, THE DETOUR, BASCOS, THE MEATRACK, WOODYS and numerous other gay kinky spots began to emerge.
sunset junction was also the location of the original DIFFERENT LIGHT BOOKSHOP, LA's first gay bookshop.
(this was also the location of my first public photo exhibit in 1989)
the mexican gangs reacted very negatively to what they saw as "overt sex" something they were definitely not used to with their catholic upbringings.
THE ONE WAY was king of the leather bars, a totally hot spot- watering hole on hoover st. & melrose ave.
this was absolutely my favorite dive and the first leather bar i ever stepped foot in.
a young, handsome black photographer named
DWIGHT HARRIS was making a name for himself in the early fashion industry.
i had both the pleasure of working with dwight and having a brief affair with him. he was the sweetest man.
kind, creative, shy and very sexy.
in late 1979 dwight harris went to the one way and met someone.. which was pretty much always the way it worked @
the one way.. it was by far the best pick up bar... you were pretty much guaranteed to connect with someone..
it just had that vibe.
dwight and his "pick-up" decided to walk to the local park located one block away.
they had found themselves some bushes and were having a little mutual blowing when a group of gang members came upon them.
the gang members yelled gay slurs and threatened them.
the boys tried to get away... one was able to, one was not. dwight was chased down by the gang, overpowered,
beaten up and shot.
dwight was 21 years old when he was murdered.
there was a blip of a mention in the LA weekly.
i attended dwight's service in inglewood... i had never been to a black funeral before..
his mother, sisters and family just wailed out-of-control over his casket. their sorrow and pain cut thru my soul...
it was intense.
soon after a local group of gays, straights, Latinos and immigrants had a public meeting and tried to address the problem that was now a crisis in their neighborhood.
one year later on august 27th, 1980, the FIRST ANNUAL SUNSET JUNCTION COMMUNITY STREET FESTIVAL was realized.
i attended this 1st street fair and was amazed to see latinos with baby strollers, gang members, leather guys wearing black leather chaps with the butts cut out,senior gays & lesbians, and numerous punk/new wave kids co-mingling with smiles on their faces.
it was a first for the area... los angelenos were not used to large public groups walking on the streets... remember this was the era of "NO ONE WALKS IN LA."
(sunset junction- circa 1982- photos courtesy- carol citrone)
i find it sad that the organizers of sunset junction have become so greedy and bloated charging $20 cover for an event that was supposed to be a community outreach... that was the roots of the festival.
not the "lalapalooza/PR get me a signed record deal /look how alternative i am," farce it has now become.
I HOPE THAT SUNSET JUNCTION will re-discover itself and go back to its roots.
rick castro- antebellum

8/23/11

NICK ASHFORD, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo
ASHFORD & SIMPSON that penned elegant, soulful classics for the likes of
Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye and funk hits for Chaka Khan and others, died Monday at age 70.

Ashford, who along with wife Valerie Simpson wrote some of Motown's biggest hits, died in a New York City hospital, said publicist Liz Rosenberg, who was Ashford's longtime friend. He had been suffering from throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment.

Though they had some of their greatest success at Motown with classics like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and
"Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" by Ross and "You're All I Need To Get By" by Gaye and Tammi Terrell,
Ashford & Simpson also created anthems for others, like "I'm Every Woman" by Khan (and later remade by Whitney Houston). Ashford & Simpson also had success writing for themselves: Perhaps the best-known song they sang was the 1980s hit
"SOLID AS A ROCK."

8/22/11

By a 3-1 vote, the Los Angeles Board of Public Works has denied the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance operating permits for its 2011 street fair, putting the three-decade-old event in serious jeopardy just days before its scheduled start Saturday.
Citing nearly $400,000 in unpaid fees for both the 2010 and 2011 festivals, some of which the festival's organizers disputed, this afternoon the board approved a motion to deny the permits. The board did leave open the possibility that if festival founder Michael McKinley could raise the estimated $141,978.57 in fees owed for the 2011 fair, the board could reconvene Wednesday to reassess the permits.
READ MORE-

ANARCHY AS PUBLICITYthis sad state of affairs is our next generation of ameican protesters-
throughout 2011, twenty-somethings have started full revolutions in egypt, libya, tunisia and algeria.
thru tweets and online communications young people have been able to rally their peers and create dramatic change in a surprisingly short amount of time.
recently in the UK, young people protested and rioted in 6 different cities as a reaction against police brutality of minorities.
ealier this year UK students lead a very intense protest against high tuition fees.
in american it seems our revolution is lead by conservative, hypocritical- tea parties. until now....
yesterday rapper- "MACHINE GUN KELLY,
" tried to start a "flash mob riot," @ a suburban cleveland mall in strongville, ohio. his hometown.
sean "p. diddy, puff daddy, puffy" combs, had signed machine gun to his "bad boy" record label.
and what was mr. machine gun rioting about??....... wait for it......
HE WAS PROMOTING HIS NEW CD....HE STOOD ON A TABLE IN A MALL AND GOT ARRESTED.....
AS A PUBLICITY STUNT!
i fear the worst for this country.
listen to machine gun explain why he rioted @ the end of this clip...
he can't even string a sentence together, except for "LACE UP,"
the catch phrase for his new cd.